The United Nations Security Council started negotiations on Monday on a French-drafted resolution to extend a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and signal an intention to work on an eventual withdrawal of the UN troops.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), established in 1978, patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. The mandate for the operation is renewed annually, and the council is expected to vote on August 25 before its current authorization expires at the end of the month.

The French draft text, seen by Reuters, would see the 15-member council indicate “its intention to work on a withdrawal of UNIFIL with the aim of making the Lebanese Government the sole provider of security in southern Lebanon, provided that the Government of Lebanon fully controls all Lebanese territory … and that the parties agree on a comprehensive political arrangement.”

Israel and the United States have reportedly opposed the renewal of the force’s mandate. The latter, a veto-wielding council member, told a closed-door council meeting on Monday that the mission should only be extended for one final year, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

When asked for comment on whether the US wanted to wind down UNIFIL, a State Department spokesperson said: “We don’t comment on ongoing UN Security Council negotiations.”

UNIFIL‘s mandate was expanded in 2006, following a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, to allow peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army keep parts of the south free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.

The peacekeeping force failed in this objective as Hezbollah effectively established control of southern Lebanon despite the presence of the Lebanese army. The Lebanese terrorist organization’s political faction was also Lebanon’s most powerful political force.

The draft Security Council text “urges the international community to intensify its support, including equipment, material and financial” to the Lebanese army.

Under a November 2024 truce that ended a year of warfare between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, Beirut’s army has been deploying in south Lebanon and attempting to dismantle the terrorist group’s infrastructure there.

Lebanon has been grappling with the thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah, with the cabinet this month tasking the army with developing a plan to do so by the end of the year.

The Iran-backed group has pushed back forcefully, saying it would fight to keep its weapons and threatening that there will be “no life in Lebanon” if attempts are made to relieve it of its arms.

The draft UN resolution under discussion also “calls for enhanced diplomatic efforts to resolve any dispute or reservation pertaining to the international border between Lebanon and Israel.”

Under last year’s truce agreement, Israel was meant to completely withdraw from Lebanon, though it has kept forces in several areas it deems strategic and continues to administer strikes against Hezbollah across Lebanon, saying that it is targeting ceasefire violations. It has also signaled it would not hesitate to launch destructive military operations if Beirut failed to disarm Hezbollah.

Israel’s forces have also had tense encounters with the UN blue helmets, with the peacekeeping force accusing IDF troops of firing at UNIFIL posts and personnel multiple times during last year’s military operation in Lebanon. Israel has maintained that the UN’s forces are not a target and that it was instead firing at “immediate threats to troops” and Hezbollah terrorists and assets.

Israel and Hezbollah engaged in hostilities for over a year after the Lebanese terror group began firing at Israel, unprovoked, in solidarity with its ally Hamas and its massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The rocket fire displaced some 60,000 residents of northern Israel. In a bid to ensure their safe return, Israel stepped up operations in Lebanon in September, leading to two months of open warfare with Hezbollah in which the terror group’s leadership and arsenal were decimated.